Topics

Search

You are here

Healthy Ecosystems and Human Well-Being

Photo Credit: CIMMYT/Flickr

Degradation of ecosystems threatens human lives and prosperity, and yet little was known about the state of global ecosystems before WRI launched the idea of a first-ever scientific audit of the health of the world’s ecosystems. WRI helped catalyze a four-year, $25 million effort called the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment that involved more than 1,300 scientists and other experts from 95 countries. Managed under the auspices of the United Nations and completed in 2005, its findings provide powerful data about ecosystems that will inform and direct policies, research, and investments by governments, NGOs, and business. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan calls the Millennium Assessment “an outstanding example of the sort of international scientific and political cooperation that is needed to further the cause of sustainable development.”